With the rise of the internet, social networking, and camera phones, there's a good chance your mug (yes, your) is somewhere on the internet. Not everyone is cool with that. Japanese researchers have come up with a way you can protect yourself. And look like a goofball.

Last December, researcher Isao Echizen at the National Institute of Informatics showed these "Protect Your Face Online Glasses" on TV Tokyo. The glasses are outfitted with 11 infrared LED lights, which are not visible to the human eye, but are to digital cameras. Thus, the wearer's identity can be obscured, and facial recognition software has a difficult time identifying him or her.

According to Echizen's laboratory, the glasses were developed to protect individuals who do not want their images uploaded online without permission or their image to be searchable via facial recognition software on sites like Facebook. There are certainly very real privacy issues at hand, which is why an investigation forced Facebook to switch off its facial recognition tech in Europe (more on The Telegraph).

The glasses look rough in their prototype state. And until they get a slick makeover, being caught wearing them might be more embarrassing than having your photo end up online.